Breakable
by THOSE stories
Summary: What if Carlisle's diet had a drastic damaging effect on him? How do the people around him react once they find out? (a series of one shots. the first chapter an explaination but please read). R&R. M for mild language (if any). I only own the story.
1. Chapter 1

I sat hand in hand with Alistair, my fingers intertwined in his. We watched my coven and the Cullens race around the clearing. Emmett and jasper were throwing boulders, not directly at each other but so they landed incredibly close to the other person. Kate was in the middle of throwing Alice in the lake. Esme sat with Bella near them, trying not to be splashed. Eleazar and Carmen were up to god knows what in the trees nearby. Edward and Rose were bickering near the forest line. Carlisle and Garrett were sitting side by side close to Emmett and Jasper's madness.

"Our family are a bunch of weirdoes," Alistair stage whispered to me. I giggled, happy to hear him call them 'our' family not 'your family'. He didn't seem to have the same problem excepting it as Garrett did.  
"I know, that's why I love them."  
He chuckled and kissed the back of our fingers. "That's why I love you."  
"Is that an insult or a compliment?" I teased, smiling.  
"Take it any way you want."  
I lent my head on his shoulder, content.

There was a massive splash and a huge wave of water sprayed over us as Emmett lost one of his rocks in the lake. Jasper was in hysterics. Emmett narrowed his eyes, glancing at a boulder bigger than the others. Grinning menacingly, he sauntered over to it and ripped it up of the ground. Jaspers laughter stopped but he still looked amused as he prepared to make a quick escape out from under the massive thing if necessary. We all watched in fascination as he lobbed it toward his friend.

Before it left his grip, something went wrong. He lost his balance and the rock flew with force over to the rock flew off to the side. The world stood still as I realised it headed toward Carlisle and Garrett.  
"MOVE!" Alistair screamed. They both glanced up and saw the threat.

Carlisle shoved Garrett sideways and they both landed in the dust, coughing as they breathed it in.  
"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" Garrett yelped, pushing Carlisle off him in panic. Alistair sat tensely, eyes wide.  
"I'm fine, Garrett." He smiled.  
"Are you sure? We landed pretty hard-"  
"Calm down, I'm alright, okay?" Carlisle got to his feet and offered his hand to a stunned Garrett. Slowly he got up. Alistair sighed in relief.

I was confused. That wouldn't have hurt a vampire so I didn't know what they were worried about. Alistair and Garrett still seemed on edge. Carlisle didn't seem fazed.  
"Seriously, I'm fine," he told them.  
"Yeah, okay. I'm just surprised you're not hurt, that's all," Alistair told him, breathing out as if expelling stress.  
"Oh come on, I'm not that breakable!" Carlisle was laughing now. His coven looked confused as I felt. Garrett hugged him, but he wriggled away making him laugh harder. They sat down again as if nothing had happened.

"What…?" I asked Alistair.  
"I'll explain later," he whispered back. I nodded, wondering when later was.

**Alistair POV**

"Is now later?" Tanya asked me as we stood in our bedroom. I tried to keep my grimace on the inside. I had been dreading this conversation.  
"I guess…" I hugged her first, her hair tickling my face. I couldn't believe I could love someone so much.  
"Well..?" She prompted carefully. I took a deep breath then blew it out again.  
"Okay, um," I paused to think where to begin. "Okay…" I sat on the bed, hoping she would sit next to me. She did so I stole her hand again. "I guess it just gave me and Garrett a fright because we've seen him hurt so many times before." I tried to push the memories down.  
"Sweetie, that wouldn't have hurt him though. He wasn't even on the bottom, Garrett was." Her tone was gentle but I could tell she was confused.  
"Yeah but, Carlisle's…different." She looked at me with her eye brows raised and I couldn't help but laugh. I tried to think how to rephrase my explanation. "He's…breakable."  
"What?" I just intensified the confusion. I knew I had to start from the beginning.  
"Because of his diet…Because Carlisle has never fed on human blood he gets sick a lot easier and it doesn't take much for him to break a bone so when he fell we thought maybe he was hurt again and I just – I just didn't want him to go through that again…" I couldn't stop the memories now.

The look of pain on his face as he slipped. The sickening crunch and then the yelp when he moved wrongly. The blood. The weight loss. Him spending entire days slumped next to a toilet bowl unable to keep anything down or hiding in darkness because the light hurt. The fainting every time he stood too quickly. The endless bruises from every knock and bump. All the hours spent in the hospital in Italy. The guaranteed sickness from absolutely anything possible. The depression that followed it all.  
Worst of all was the car crash, the impact of it crushing bones, damaging internal organs, the weeks spent by a constant beeping monitor.

"Hey…" Tanya pulled me back to the present. "He's fine, he told you that."  
"Yes but he's good at hiding things. He shattered his ankle once and Garrett was living with him at the time and it took us a week to even find out something was wrong. Even then he passed it off as a sprain."  
"But would he really get seriously hurt from something as small as that?" she seemed curious.  
I nodded. "He has before." I shuddered.  
"He's fine, love. Everything's okay." She hugged me again and I was grateful for it.

"Totally not hiding anything," Carlisle grinned at us, leaning against the doorframe.  
"You still scared the shit out of me."  
Carlisle rolled his eyes. "You really have to stop mothering me, it's unhealthy."  
"I wouldn't have to if you would just be careful!"  
"I didn't do anything!" he defended himself. Alistair just shook his head before hugging him. Or attempting to anyway. "Get off me!" He tried to squirm away. "It's weird and uncomfortable."  
"Please? Just let me hug you," he whined.  
"No!"  
"Please?"  
"Nope. Alistair, I love you, but I beg you, please don't touch me…"  
Alistair laughed and glanced at me as if to say 'that's a whole other issue'. "Okay, but Esme won't be happy."  
Carlisle went to walk away but suddenly turned to face us again. Alistair had his back to him. Carlisle came back in and wrapped his arms around him. I found the gesture kind of sweet seeming as neither of them liked people that much.  
"Thank you," he murmured quietly to him before disappearing again.

Read and review please :) In the next chapter/story i'll probably use one of Alistair's memories, i think. Or something else if someone suggests it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Carlisle POV  
1:15 am**

I woke up in excruciating pain and bolted to the bathroom, practically collapsing onto the floor to throw up into the toilet. I struggled to stay quiet so I didn't wake Esme up. She would only be upset that I was sick. When I had nothing left in my stomach, I stumbled back to bed. I couldn't stop shivering; I was hot and cold at the same time. The pain made me want to continuously squirm but I forced myself to be still.  
It took hours to fall asleep again but when I did the nightmares were terrible. By morning I didn't know how many times I had watched my wife die. I desperately wanted to hug her but didn't dare in case I had a temperature; I had to hide this from her.

"Carlisle, wake up. You're going to be late," Esme chuckled, amused by the fact I had slept through my alarm. I had only been asleep an hour. She was already dressed and on her way downstairs to organise the rest of our coven. I waited until she was as far away as possible before rushing to be sick again. It felt like me throat was being ripped apart.  
My vision was blurry and I could barely see where I was going as I carefully made my way downstairs. My ears rang and every couple of steps the room would spin. Bile rose in my throat again and I swallowed hard.  
I couldn't get sick now, I just couldn't. I had to go to work in a few minutes and the Denalis were supposed to arrive at lunch time. As much as I wanted to go back to bed, I had to go work if I didn't want to worry Esme. I hugged her quickly before she could kiss me as I left, hoping that I wasn't too warm. I wished I could have stayed with her longer.

"You okay, Cullen?" the receptionist asked when I came in. I nodded, not trusting my voice just yet. She dropped a patient's file in front of and smiled in apology. I smiled the best I could back.  
I didn't get a chance to stop all day; I worked through my lunch break and did a few hours overtime because someone else had called in sick and they were short staffed.  
By home time the pain was so bad I wanted to cry and I wasn't sure if I could stand up without passing out. My head hurt and I couldn't see. Everything ached and I felt like I could throw up at any minute. I didn't think I could drive home but the last thing I wanted to do was call Esme. There was no way I would do that; she didn't need another thing to worry about. It wouldn't be fair on her.  
"Carlisle," somebody called to me.  
_Go away,_ I silently begged them.  
"I've got a guy that needs stitches and some kid with a broken leg," my boss told me. I knew what was coming next. "I need you to fix them up, Dr Snow is busy."  
"I cant…" I mumbled, just holding back the tears. I wasn't sure he heard me so I repeated myself a bit louder.  
He frowned and it turned into a glare. "What?" he asked flatly.  
"I w-want to go home…" My voice shook.  
"Yeah, well I want lots of things. Just do it, Cullen," he snapped.  
"Please? I don't feel well," I begged.  
He gritted his teeth. "Half an hour. Just do it."  
"I cant-" My stomach turned and I pushed away from him as fast as I dared, only just making it outside before I was sick.  
I couldn't really see where I was going as I drove home so I just prayed I didn't drive into anything. Every time the car hit a bump it was agony.

**Esme POV**

It seemed like forever before my Carlisle finally came home. He was at least four hours later than usual. I heard his car pull up in the driveway and couldn't help but smile.  
"Hi honey," I called to him over the back of the couch where I was sitting with the Denalis. He was behind me.  
"You guys are so cute," Tanya giggled. I rolled my eyes at her.  
"Hi," he mumbled quietly.  
"Carlisle, what's wrong?" Eleazar asked. He sounded worried.  
"N-nothing I just," he swallowed hard and took a deep breath. I frowned; he didn't usually stutter. "I just, um," he tried again but repeated the action. "I just-" This time he darted away and doubled over the sink.  
"Sweetie," I rushed over to him, rubbing his back while he was sick. "What happened?!"  
He groaned quietly and lent his forehead against the tap.  
It was only now I noticed how pale he was. I could feel his temperature through his jacket and my sleeve. He was warmer than a human.  
"Esme I don't feel well," he whimpered.  
"I know, love," I told him gently, pushing his hair off his face. "You don't look well either."  
He let out a shaky breath and I thought he was going to cry.  
"It's okay," I smiled at him. "You're allowed to get sick, Carlisle."  
He stood up and lent into me. I hugged him, pulling him closer.  
"Ow, um, honey that kind of hurts…" he mumbled, his accent coming through. He pulled away and wrapped his arms around his middle.

It all happened so quickly I didn't have time to react. One minute he was standing and the next thing I knew he was on the floor.  
"CARLISLE!" I heard myself scream. I couldn't help but start sobbing. "Carlislepleasewakeup," I begged him urgently.  
"Esme, it's okay. He used to faint a lot," Garrett told me, appearing perfectly calm. He helped him sit up and lean against the cupboards. "Did you hit your head?" he asked quietly.  
"Only when I hit the floor," Carlisle mumbled, touching the side of his face. Garrett failed to restrain a smile.  
"I forgot how much of a dork you are," he chuckled. I got the sense he just wanted to keep him talking.  
Carlisle started to struggle against him. "W-want to g-get up…"  
"Um, no. You're staying there because you'll only go straight back down again." He held him in place.  
"Garrett I-I-"  
"I know you feel sick but I'd rather that you stayed there and threw up on me than fall down again, okay?"  
He nodded slowly and swore under his breath.

After about ten minutes Garrett helped him to his feet again. I carefully put my arms around him again, being careful not to hurt him this time.  
"Bed time, yes?" I asked.  
He smiled warily. "You stay here with them, love, I'll be okay…"  
"No way. I'm at least taking you upstairs." I led him to our bed room. "In bed. Now." I pulled back the blankets.  
He groaned. "Esme, I promise I'll be okay, I just have a cold or something." He shrugged.  
"A cold?" I challenged gently.  
"Maybe not…" he mumbled, lying down.  
I pulled the blankets over him and kissed the side of his face, rubbing his back. "You really think you're going to be okay?"  
He nodded tiredly. "I'll be fine, but I think you should go back to them."  
"I'm worried about you, Carlisle."  
"I'll be fine, love," he smiled. It wasn't genuine.  
Hesitantly, I headed back downstairs, worrying the entire time.

A few hours later, Tanya glanced behind me and smiled.  
"You okay?" she asked softly.  
I spun around to face Carlisle.  
He nodded shyly, almost guiltily. He came and sat next to me, twisting his fingers through mine.  
"I'm glad you're feeling better, sweetie," I told him, cuddling into his side.  
He glared at Eleazar when he pulled out his phone to take a picture of us.


	3. Chapter 3

I carefully sat beside Carlisle and held my hand against his forehead. After feeling how hot it was, I reached over and switched off his alarm, knowing full well he wouldn't be happy with me for doing it. I quickly went downstairs to organise the kids.

"Where's Carlisle?" Emmett asked curiously as I tried to shoo them out of the house.  
"Sick. Go to school."  
"He is not. He was sick last week," he grumbled, annoyed he still had to go to school when my husband didn't have to go to work.  
I gave him a cold look. "Do you think he would stay home he if had a choice?" I snapped.  
"Probably," he muttered, rolling his eyes. "He just wants to spend time with you while we're not around."  
"Just go to school." I closed the door in his face.  
He walked away sniggering to himself.

I sat on the bed knowing I should leave him alone, but I desperately wanted to wake him up to make sure he was okay. I managed to restrain myself until he sleepily glanced up at the clock, rubbing his face before closing his eyes again and pulling the blanket closer around him. I bit back a smile; god he was cute.  
I counted five seconds before he realised and looked at it again, confused. He didn't seem to be able to comprehend what had happened.  
I went and sat next to him, stroking the side of his face. "I turned it off, honey, I think you might be sick again," I told him quietly.  
"Your hands are cold," he mumbled tiredly.  
"You have a temperature," I chuckled.  
"Hmm…" He lent into my touch.  
"Do you feel sick, sweetie?" I asked, wanting to cuddle him but too scared to move him in case he was in pain.  
He shook his head, reaching up to knot his fingers through mine.  
I smiled involuntarily and let him do it. "Are you hurting anywhere?"  
"No…"  
I leant over to kiss him gently but he wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me so he could hug me better.  
"Why are you so cold? You're going to get sick, Esme," he told me, still mumbling but starting to wake up a bit.  
"Carlisle, I'm absolutely fine. It's not that I'm cold, you're just really hot."  
"But…oh. Great." The look on his face told me he had just realised the problem. He started to get up.  
"No, you're staying there," I chuckled, pushing him back down.  
"I need to call my boss…"  
"I already did. Now don't worry about it, love, and see if you can go back to sleep for a while." I kissed him again and he tightened his grip on me.  
"Thank you." He kissed the backs of our entwined fingers.  
"I didn't think you would be very happy with me," I giggled, rubbing circles into the back of his hand with my thumb.  
"…He's going to be so mad at me on Monday…maybe I should work tomorrow-" He was more talking to himself than to me but I interrupted anyway.  
"No, you will stay here until you are completely better, Carlisle-"  
"But-"  
"But nothing. You are not working when you're sick."  
He gave up and just lent against me, exhausted. I shifted so he was lying with his head in my lap. When he glanced up at me I knew exactly what he was going to say before he said it.  
"It's okay, love. I want to stay with you," I assured him, knowing he felt guilty for keeping me here.  
He bit his lip. "B-but what if I make you sick as well…"  
"It doesn't matter," I chided gently, shaking my head at him.  
"Yes it does," he insisted, sitting up.  
"You worry too much," I chuckled. "Lie down before you get dizzy."  
"But if I make you sick then you won't be able to- then what happens?"  
"Lie down, sweetie. Don't worry about it."  
"It does matter because if you're sick then everything is going to turn to shit- our coven cant- they won't cope and-"  
"Carlisle." I held his face in my hands, forcing him to look at me. He squirmed. "Forget about it. It doesn't matter. I won't get sick and if I do then we'll deal with it. Now stop this and lie down."  
"I'm not dizzy," he protested, pulling away. Even if he wasn't I could tell he was tired.  
"_Lie. Down._"  
This time he did but he held his breath and his whole body was ridged. He wouldn't relax into me like I wanted him to.  
I sighed. "Honey, for the love of god-"  
"Ugh." He did what I wanted and slid his arms around me again.  
"Thank you," I chuckled, kissing him lightly. I half expected him to pull back but he didn't. I hugged him closer to me; as much as I hated seeing him sick, it was wonderful being this close to someone warm and it was even better that person being Carlisle.

When his pager beeped I expected him to jump up. Even when he was unwell nothing would stop him if there was an emergency. Instead he sort of shrunk into me until the shrill sound stopped. I reached across and handed it to him. After studying it for a moment he turned it off and put it back, not seeming too worried about it.  
"You're not going?" I asked, surprised.  
"Dr Snow can do it," he mumbled. "They just want another staff member."  
I frowned. "What's wrong? I don't think I've ever seen you turn down a job." It scared me, more than anything.  
"It's okay…I just…feel like crap…" He sort of smiled but then coughed, covering his mouth.  
"Do you think you have the flu or something?" I tried to figure out what I should be prepared for; it took me off guard whenever he caught something he hadn't had before.  
"I don't think so…It's not that bad, I'm just tired…"  
To make him stay home he would have to be more than 'just tired'. And being tired didn't give you a temperature. But I didn't say anything; he was here and that was the main thing.

When the others came home someone left the door open and the wind slammed it shut, sending an almighty bang rattling through the house. Carlisle flinched violently, letting out a quiet whimper.  
"Shh, it's okay, love. It's just the door," I assured him, thinking it had given him a fright.  
"…I know, it was just…loud…" he mumbled, rubbing his hand across his face.  
I got up and closed our bedroom door, making everything happening out there more muffled.  
He sat up when I stood, leaning forward a bit.  
"What's wrong?" I panicked, rushing back to kneel in front of him. "Does your stomach hurt? Are you going to be sick?" My works came out in a rush as I pushed his hair off his face.  
He shook his head, wrapping his arms around my waist. "No, I'm fine. Don't worry about me, okay? One of the nurses had a cold the other day, I think I might have that…" He coughed again.  
I sat next to him and squeezed him tightly, letting him lean against me. "You're temperature had gone down a bit," I murmured, pleased.  
"I feel better than I did this morning." He smiled shyly. "It must be you. Maybe you should be a nurse." I couldn't tell whether he was teasing or not. "Nurse Esme."  
I rolled my eyes. "Sure."  
"I'm not kidding, Esme. You could. If you wanted to. Or you could a doctor."  
I laughed at that. "You have too much faith in me, Carlisle Cullen. Those patients would be doomed before they even got to the hospital," I chuckled.  
"I could teach you…" He glanced up at me.  
I shook my head, smiling at him. "I'll stay here and do the gardening and you can go and save humanity," I teased.  
He laughed, smiling as well. "Maybe that's a good thing…I don't think I would actually get any work done with you around. I think about you enough as it is and if you were there not being able to see you all the time would be unbearable because you would literally be meters away."  
"I'm a distraction, huh?"  
"A distraction of the best kind."


	4. Chapter 4

We carefully made our way around the rocks, trying not to get caught on the jagged edges. They looked sharp enough to tear us to shreds. Every now and again waves crashed over them, spraying jets of water up around us although we were mostly dry.  
We seemed to have been walking for hours but it was fun, exciting almost. At least it was for me, I liked the dangerous side of it, but Eleazar looked like he just wanted to go home.  
"How much longer are we doing this?" Garrett grumbled. "Can we go home yet?"  
I rolled my eyes. "Soon, I promise." For a nomad he didn't like the outdoors much.  
"Good," he and Eleazar muttered simultaneously.  
Carlisle didn't say anything and when I glanced back at him he had his arms folded tightly across his chest and I could see him shivering although he was a way from me. It was weird; I didn't notice the negative temperature at all.  
Suddenly it clicked; he was soaking wet. The icy wind would cut straight through his drenched clothing. He would be freezing. The only thing I could do about it now was to try and get home faster.  
I forced the other two to pick up the pace, making them both whine and groan. "It's not that hard. Just get on with it," I growled, annoyed. I moved closer to Carlisle to try and keep an eye on him. He trembled so much that he had problems keeping his footing and tripped several times, catching himself only just in time.

Suddenly he slipped, landing hard on his hands and knees. The smell of blood immediately filled the air.  
"Shit," Eleazar swore, pulling him back onto his feet before the water rushed around him. "Are you okay?"  
He nodded, wiping his hands on his now ripped jeans, trying to clear the blood away. He kind of looked like he wanted to cry but he didn't. "C-can we go h-home now please?" he asked softly, not seeming to know what to do now he was bleeding.  
"Of course we can," I assured him, putting my arm around his waist to ensure he wouldn't trip again. He was unbelievably cold. "You'll freeze to death if we don't! You should have said you were cold; we would have gone back sooner."  
"It d-doesn't matter. I cant really f-feel it," he mumbled.  
That worried me even more, that he had gone numb from the cold. I felt terrible for not noticing before, especially because I knew that he would probably get sick from this.  
Esme was going to kill me.

Sure enough, by the time we got home he was already coughing and his shivering only seemed to get worse.  
I sort of pulled him in the door and into the kitchen. "Come here, can I see your hands?" I carefully used a cloth to try and get rid of as much of the blood as I could without hurting him too much.  
He didn't seem to care and just stood there, shaking.  
I quickly bandaged the wounds and then dragged him into the lounge, making him sit by the fire.  
"What happened?" Tanya asked, standing beside me, watching my every move.  
"Ahh, he slipped and he's really cold," I explained sheepishly.  
She sighed and called Esme's name up the stairs.  
"What happened?" She was immediately with us, appearing from nowhere. She sat next to her husband, hugging him and glaring at me. "You're freezing! Why are you so cold, Carlisle? Nobody else is wet…"  
"I'm uncoordinated," he mumbled, leaning into her.  
"You cut yourself too?" She gently touched one of the bandages, being careful not to hurt him.  
He didn't answer her but I didn't know whether it was because he was coughing again or just because he was tired.  
"He tripped on the rocks and they're kind of sharp," I told her awkwardly.  
She rubbed his side. "You need to get changed, love, otherwise you'll never warm up." She took his hand and led him up the stairs.

**Esme POV**

After he was dressed again he seemed to bit more alert, although still cold. He sat on the bed with me again, pulling me into his arms and holding me there.  
I cuddled into him, loving the closeness of the gesture.  
He kissed the top of my head. "I need you to be nice to Alistair." He was smiling but I knew he meant it seriously.  
"I wont touch him," I promised. Inside I was mentally cursing the former nomad; he _knew_ that Carlisle got sick easily but he still took him out in the cold. What the hell were they doing out there anyway? He could have killed him had he fallen the wrong way. I ground my teeth at his stupidity.  
"Calm down, love," Carlisle chuckled, kissing the side of my face. "It's not his fault."  
"It _is_ his fault," I muttered tightly, angry.  
"No it isn't. I was dumb enough to go out there. Alistair did nothing wrong. He helped me. And I'm not really sick anyway."  
His words disarmed me a little and I nodded.  
He pulled away from me a bit, coughing again.  
"Not sick, huh?" My heart softened. "Lie down, you're still shivering."  
Once he had done as I asked I covered him with a blanket, lying next to him and cuddling into him again.  
"You're enjoying this aren't you," he teased, smiling.  
"No I'm not," I lied, protesting.  
He laughed, tightening his grip on me.  
I pushed him lightly. "I don't like you being sick…I just like looking after you, that's all." I reached up to press my lips against his.  
He pulled away. "_You're_ going to get sick if you keep kissing me."  
"I don't care." I did it again.  
"What are you doing?" He was trying not to laugh but couldn't keep the smile off his face.  
"What do you think I'm doing?" I slid on top of him a bit more.  
He slid his arms around my waist, pulling me closer.  
"I think I know of an, um, activity that might warm you up," I teased, kissing that base of his neck.  
"And what might that be?" he asked, biting back a smile. He ran his hands up my back.  
I kissed him again, harder this time.  
"I think that if you keep doing what you're doing, you're going to end up with a cold." He hugged me but it was clear he wasn't going to let me take things any further.  
"Okay, but you really are freezing." I could the heat draining out of me just from touching him even though we had a blanket between us. Worried, I got up and turned up the thermostat, sending more warm air into the room.  
"And now you're going to cook," he chuckled.  
"That's fine with me."  
When he sat up again I settled next to him, cuddling into his side. He slid his arm around me, kissing the top of my head.  
Already I was uncomfortably hot but I tried not to let on, knowing he would feel guilty.  
"How about I stay here and read until I'm warm again, and you go back downstairs with the other so you don't get too hot?" he suggested quietly.  
I frowned, not liking the idea of leaving him much. "Do I have to?"  
"If you don't want to overheat. Or you can turn the temperature down again-"  
"But the you'll just get cold again. It defeats the purpose," I interrupted, liking that even less. "Fine, I'll go downstairs, but I swear to god if I come up here and you're _not_ in that blanket, there _will_ be trouble."  
He laughed, picking up the blanket and wrapping himself in it. "Happy?"  
I reached over and pulled it tighter, only making him laugh harder, before stepping away again. "Now I'm happy." I handed him his book. "And don't you dare move!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: it's 4 am, I'm over tired, hyper, currently hating a large percentage of the Cullen coven so dragged the Denalis into it, and I haven't written anything for ages so I'm going to apologise for the story/spelling/characters/this mess I made now. Also I feel it doesn't really have a proper ending and I'm sorry for that too.**

**Tanya POV**

When the Cullen's came in I could immediately tell something was up with Carlisle. He had pulled the sleeves of his jumper over his finger tips and his hair was sort of messy and stuck to his face. He was pale and withdrawn, shivering even though it was thirty degrees in here. The rest of us had taken our coats off, overheating.  
Eleazar moved to hug him but he turned away, coughing. "I'll make you sick," he choked out. "You don't want to touch me." He coughed again and Esme wrapped her arm around his waist, rubbing his side.  
"Honey, your temperature is really high," she murmured, the concern showing on her face.  
He just shrugged, leaning on her a bit.  
"Hey Tanya, I know we just got here and everything but would you mind if I took Carlisle to lie down for a while? He has slept for four days because he's been coughing and-"  
"I'm okay, Esme," he told her, sort of smiling and kissing the top of her head.  
"You are not," she quipped.  
"Of course it's fine! You don't have to ask," I chuckled, shaking my head at them. They were always so polite.  
She started to lead him up the staircase but he stopped on the bottom step, giving her another half-hearted smile.  
"Come on, sweetie, you'll feel better once you've been to sleep," she encouraged him, pushing his hair off his face.  
"Hmm…" He lent heavily against the rail, looking completely exhausted.  
Worry flashed across her perfect features. "Carlisle, sweetheart, I need you to go to bed for a while, okay?"  
He nodded, coughing once again before following her, tripping and stumbling a few times but catching himself before he fell.  
His coven watched them with shocked expressions, unused to seeing their leader in a vulnerable position.  
It worried me too. Carlisle wouldn't show them he was sick if he could help it and right now he looked _really_ sick and we would only be seeing what he couldn't hide. Which meant he felt a lot worse.

**Esme POV**

I practically forced Carlisle to lie on our bed, sitting beside him so I could wrap him in a blanket, trying to stop his trembling. He was so pale and very hot to touch.  
Within seconds he had to sit up again, coughing.  
I hugged him, pulling him closer when he cuddled into me. "Shh, try and relax, honey."  
"I-I love you," he stammered.  
"Aww, I love you too, sweetie." I frowned when he coughed again.  
He had been coughing so much he couldn't sleep. He hadn't slept in four days and I could see he was absolutely shattered. His face was flushed and his temperature kept rising. Every time he lay down he would cough. It was starting to frighten the rest of our coven; they weren't used to Carlisle like this. They weren't used to Carlisle struggling.  
"Lie down." I pushed him back down, sitting on the edge of the bed beside him, squeezing his hand.  
"I'm not dying, Esme. You can go back downstairs with them," he mumbled quietly. He sounded so tired.  
"I will do nothing of the sort," I quipped, stroking the side of his face with my thumb. My nerves were on edge waiting for him to coughing again.  
He smiled slightly and lent against my hand, making me smile as well.  
"You shouldn't have gone to work like this."  
"…I had to…"  
"No you didn't, Carlisle," I scolded. "Why can't you just let yourself be sick?"  
"I'm sorry, Esme," he whispered, glancing up at me.  
Immediately I felt guilty. "I understand." I leant down and kissed his forehead. "Now go to sleep."  
He swallowed hard and I could see him fighting it.  
I sighed and pulled him upright again, trying to hug him.  
"I'll make you sick." He squirmed away again.  
"You keep saying that but I'm still okay," I chuckled, rubbing his back. His temperature was radiating through his jacket. "My poor Carlisle." I kissed the back of our entwined hands. "What can I do to help you?"  
"Go back downstairs?" he asked hopefully.  
"Ah, no. No way. Come here." I slid back onto the bed and lent against the headboard. I gently shifted him back so he was lying against me, pulling the blanket over both of us. I rested my chin on the top of his head, sliding my arms around him.  
He relaxed into me, finally seeming to be semi comfortable.

The alarm read two am but Carlisle wasn't next to me anymore. "Honey?" I called quietly. I got no answer.  
A bit alarmed, I crept down the hallway to find him. A faint light bathed the kitchen door so I pushed it open.  
"What's happening?" I asked quickly, consumed with worry.  
Carlisle was sitting at the table, his arms folded on top of it and his head resting against them. To be honest he looked a mess; his hair was all messed up and he was a really strange shade of pale.  
Eleazar opened his mouth to answer me but closed it again, looking at Carlisle instead.  
"Nothing," my husband mumbled. I could see him shaking from where he sat.  
"Someone is feeling like crap," Carmen chuckled, touching Carlisle's arm.  
"Someone is fine," he protested. It sounded like his throat hurt.  
I stood behind him, rubbing his shoulders. "What are you doing out of bed?" I kissed the side of his face.  
"…Couldn't sleep…" He looked so guilty.  
"Aww, sweetheart." I struggled to think of something to do to help him.  
He coughed again. His face became slightly red and he bit down hard on his lip, his whole body going tense even after it was over.  
"What?" I kissed the base of his neck, cuddling him the best I could while he was standing and I was sitting.  
"Nothing," he mumbled between clenched teeth.  
"Come back to bed." I pulled his chair out, forcing him to support himself.  
He winced again but I couldn't figure out why. "I'll only keep you awake, Esme," he protested softly. Pain laced his voice.  
"I don't care if I have to sit up all night with you." I wrapped my arm around his waist and slowly pulled him to his feet.  
He hissed and jerked away from me, almost falling. He managed to catch himself and paced back and forth in front of me; slowly letting out a breath I didn't realise he'd been holding. He looked close to tears.  
"Carlisle?" I asked, panicked.  
"Um…don't freak out, okay?" His voice trembled. "B-but I think I might have broken my ribs…"  
"What do I do?! Carlisle, tell me what I have to do to help you!" I caught his hand and forced him to stop in front of me.  
"Nothing, Esme. Don't worry, my love." He kissed my forehead. "Just don't squeeze me, and we'll be fine."  
"Carlisle," I whined desperately. "Tell me. Don't be stubborn."  
"I'm not lying to you!" he was fighting a smile now. "Do you know what we do when someone comes into hospital with broken ribs? We give them pain relief and send them home again unless they've rupture an organ or something."  
I contemplated this for a moment. "I'm going to get an ice pack, you're going to swallow what I give you, and then we're going to go to bed and you're going to go to sleep," I instructed.  
He offered me a shaky smile. "Yes, Esme."

And now we were lying on the bed again, Carlisle begrudgingly letting me press an icepack against his side. He didn't complain, but I could tell it definitely wasn't comfortable; I also knew he was just humouring me by letting me do it. He'd taken whatever pain medication he was allowed and now was finally able to sleep, even it was only in short bursts.  
"Sure you don't want to be a doctor?" he mumbled, his speech slightly slurred.  
"Go to sleep," I scolded, trying to supress a smile.  
"I really could teach you. Or if you didn't want me, then we could move closer to a university and you could-"  
"I'll always want you, Carlisle, don't you worry about that. Now just shush and go to sleep."  
"I think you'd be good at it. You're good at everything."  
"The only patient I don't mind looking after is you," I chuckled.  
"Why is it always this way around? It's never me helping you."  
"Go to sleep," I insisted. To be honest, I would be surprised if he could remember this drug-induced conversation in the morning.  
"It isn't fair. I'd rather me be sick than you. Much rather. But that's not the point. I want to do nice things for you too-"  
"You do plenty of nice things for me. But right now, you're going to go to sleep."  
"I love you."  
"I love you too. Go to sleep, okay?" I urged.  
"Okay."


End file.
